


A Mark to Save a Life

by DarkDemon



Category: FMA - Fandom, Fullmetal Alchemist, Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
Genre: AU, Back by popular demand: big gay and smol gay, Cute, Ed's fifteen, Fluff, I don't know, Ishval mention, M/M, Mostly stays with show's timeline, Short story??, Suicide mention, When you write on yourself it shows up on your soulmate too, bring your toothbrush cause you gonna get cavities, no smut bc I suck, super fluff, tw for Roy: Rain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-21
Updated: 2017-03-31
Packaged: 2018-09-01 07:15:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Underage
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8614642
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarkDemon/pseuds/DarkDemon
Summary: Growing up, Roy didn't think he had a soulmate. He wrote on his arms almost constantly, but nothing appeared. Eventually, he gave up trying. When his life was at its lowest, he finally got an answer written out on his arm and it flipped his entire life.





	1. Chapter 1

In his teenage years, Roy had written on his arms constantly, hoping for some sort of response. Anything.  He wrote greetings, he wrote notes, he wrote poems- he’d often get in trouble for it with his alchemy trainer -he wrote  _ anything  _ he thought might get a response. But, when he looked down at his arms, it was only ever his own handwriting there. He was forced to sit through stories of people talking to their soulmates through this very mean of communication.

When others noticed he never got a reply, people began to talk. To speculate that maybe he didn’t have a soul mate. And he could believe it. Because he never got a response and soon, the pen would rub off without so much as a mark from another person. As he got older and joined the military, he gave up trying. There was no sense in continuing to bother if it was just going to force him into depression.

It hurt, if he were going to be honest with himself, that he might not have someone out there that matched his soul perfectly. It was crushing to watch everyone around him find that perfect person and know that he’d never get to feel that. He shoved those feelings harshly away, covered himself in a layer of armor that no one would be able to break through, and continued with his life as if he didn’t care. 

Then, Ishval. 

He was twenty-three when he was sent as a state alchemist to occupy Ishval and capture its lands by means of deadly force. It was a lot on him and on his mental stability. He murdered innocent people, burned them to a crisp. He would never get the stench of a charred body and burned hair from his nose. He would never forget the image of crisp, black corpses sprawled on the ground in front of him. He  _ would never  _ forget the look of fear in each Ishvalan’s eyes. He would never forgive himself. 

Throughout the war, he’d steal time to write ‘I’m sorry’ or ‘Please forgive me’ on his hand or wrist. If there was someone getting these messages scrawled sloppily on their skin, they had no idea what he was apologizing for. But he needed to say sorry. He needed to say sorry to  _ someone _ . He never got a reply. 

After the war was over, everyone involved had seen their hardships. Roy was able to watch as they all got to go home finally, as they found their loved ones and went off to attempt to be happy and live a normal life. He wasn’t sure if he could do that, too. He didn’t even know if he  _ had  _ someone to eventually go home to. 

He stood in the train station, watching as Hughes left with Gracia, grinning. He could recall Hughes telling him- while they were in Ishval -that he wasn’t going to let Gracia see the effects of the war. He’d said he’d always grin for her and be happy because she deserved that. Roy could envy his strength. It was something he, himself, didn’t have.

Hughes had long since disappeared by the time Roy got his mind up enough to move from that spot. People were bustling around him, trying to catch trains and get to where they needed to be. He left the station.

He’d decided on the ride back, that he had no purpose in this world. He’d murdered so many innocent people, he’d used his alchemy for horrible things. He was a monster, not a person, and didn’t deserve the right to live while so many had died by his hand. What was the point in being a walking devil?

Roy slipped into a public bathroom. Lucky enough, it was a single, so he was able to lock the door shut to make sure no one came in. They would come knocking soon enough, though. By then, it wouldn’t matter anymore. 

He looked at himself in the mirror. A disheveled, exhausted-looking mess in a blue uniform and a white coat. The marks under his eyes showed that he hadn’t slept in days and the dead look in his eye only complimented it. He hated what he saw and so dropped his eyes. 

He pulled a gun out of its holster on his hip, holding it in a shaky hand. If he did it right, it would be clean. No pain. Just empty darkness and he already welcomed the feeling of nothingness that he knew he would get. The euphoria of not bearing anymore of the sin on his back, of giving it all away. 

But before he could do that, he had something else he needed to do. He set the gun down on the counter and reached into his pocket, digging around for just a second before pulling a pen out. It was the pen he’d kept with him at all times during the war. A little bit of hope in the darkness that had surrounded him. He uncapped it and began to write, in shaky letters. 

‘I’m sorry,’ he wrote, ‘I don’t know if you’re out there but I’m sorry we’ll never get to meet I trust you’ll do fine without me’

He stared at the writing for a long time, reading each word over and over in his mind. Eventually, Roy laid the pen down very carefully and reached for the gun. There was a small flash of black that caught his eye. Turning his arm a little, he noticed the etching of writing starting to crawl onto his skin. His heart stopped. 

He lifted his wrist to better see the writings. 

‘Stop  I don’t know what you’re talking about but stop you’re being annoying’

It was sloppily written, like a child’s handwriting, and was harsh. But, it was exactly the kick Roy needed. It brought a new reality to his life. He had a soulmate. Someone he needed to live for, to be able to meet one day. That was probably the stupidest, most sappy reason he could have for not killing himself, but it was enough. Just as quickly as he decided he was going to, he decided he wouldn’t and holstered the gun again. 

Years passed. After the war- and after Roy was bumped up to Lieutenant Colonel -he went recruiting. It wasn’t his favorite thing, but he wasn’t going to complain. He spent a long time doing this, finding talented alchemists to join the military. Many of them remarked that they wanted nothing to do with the military while others accepted because they “knew the military needed help after how many alchemists were killed”. 

One such recruit was young and far too experienced for his age. When he’d arrived, the kid had been asleep, recovering from a trauma most people couldn’t even begin to perform. He talked to the only people the kid had to rely on for a while. His visit, though he didn’t get a chance to talk to the kid, seemed to be worth it as he was notified that the kid, Edward Elric, was going to take the exam. 

Ed called him before boarding the train. It was a quick conversation, which consisted of Ed awkwardly calling him by his name, first, then correcting himself. That was cute. Then, Roy demanded he get on the train that was currently departing. He knew what train it was and he knew what was going to happen. He wanted to test the kid. Once all that was said and done, Roy had a little bit of time to himself. At least, until the train arrived in Central. 

Roy sighed and leaned back in his chair. After the first time his soulmate had responded, he’d kept up the messages once more like he had years prior. He sort of felt ridiculous for it, like he was some dumb hopeful teenager, but that didn’t stop him. And he got replies every once in awhile. 

For a bit, the handwriting had gotten extremely sloppy and came in slow, careful letters. Roy had wondered vaguely what was up, but was mostly just glad to be having a conversation with them. As time passed, it got better and more legible. And Roy couldn’t help but be a little proud of the person he was writing to. 

Slowly, as he continued scrawling random things on his arms, he noticed that the only the ones on his left arm got responses. They were written right under his own letters. The ones on his right arm were left untouched, no matter what he said. It was weird, but eventually, he’d stopped writing on his right arm altogether. If he ran out of room on his left arm, he’d just wash the ink off and start again on fresh- albeit slightly reddened -skin.

As he sat there, thinking back on the old conversations they’d had, he just barely noticed red ink slipping onto his skin. As soon as he caught it, he turned his hand to watch it. It was uncoordinated and sloppy, but looked like a masterpiece to him all the same. He watched the letters be curved and carefully penciled- well penned- on the clear skin. 

‘What’re you doin'?’ 

With all his praise on the writings, Roy was amused about how ungraceful the word choice was. 

He grabbed the pen that had been abandoned along with his paperwork and wrote back, ‘working’

Of course, he wasn’t actually working right now, but he wasn’t going to admit he was being lazy. 

‘You’re boring is that all you do?’ 

‘Of course not’ he paused for a moment, then continued, ‘I eat sometimes and sleep’

‘Haha you’re so funny’

Roy could tell the tone was supposed to be sarcastic. It brought a smile to his face. It was surreal, really. To be able to talk to someone just by writing on yourself. It was such a horrible way to flirt, but since they had yet to agree to meet at all or even talk about meeting, it was the only way he was able to. 

‘I like to think so’ was his final response before everything stopped. 

It was sudden, but Roy assumed they had gotten busy with something, so he didn’t bother to try to write another message. He’d just wait until later. Later never really came until a few days passed, though. Since Ed had passed his exam and he had to welcome his newest dog into his command. 

 

____

 

Roy had become colonel and Ed was annoyingly destructive at only fifteen years of age. He swore the kid was going to give him gray hair before he even reached the age of thirty. Everywhere he went, he left a trail of destruction and the only thing he could say for himself was “I can’t help that everyone wants to kill me”. 

And now, Roy had his hands full with the Liore incident. While Ed had exposed a fraud miracle-maker, he’d also caused riots- not that Roy told him that part- which the military had to get involved with to try and stop. 

He had his hands full with the paperwork and was trying to catch up on and on top of that, he had to continue about his usual work. It was a lot for him to deal with and he had too little of paper to write everything he had to do down. So, he had to resort to his arms. 

‘Meeting at 2’ he scrawled out quickly onto his left wrist, then, ‘organize papers and turn in’

It was a list and he had to remember both of those things otherwise he’d be in trouble. But, as expected, he got a response from them. 

‘It’s nice to know your a busy guy’ 

Roy had meant to tell them that they were notes for him to remember things, but a glance at the clock told him he needed to get the papers done before the meeting, so he abandoned any thought of composing a message back and got to work. 

Two quickly rolled around. He’d efficiently gotten the papers filled out and stuck in a folder, which he took with him when he left his office to head to the meeting. 

And God, the meeting was boring as hell. As usual. He doodled on a paper under his notes and took some glances at his arm to see if his soulmate had said anything more. He could hardly read it from under his sleeve, but he could see that they were urgently telling him he had a meeting over and over, as if he didn’t remember. He had to force back the smile that threatened to curve at the edge of his lips. 

When the meeting was over and the papers had been turned in, he made his way back to his office. There he, obviously, rolled up his sleeve to read the messages. A few told him he had a meeting a two and others were asking if he made it. They ran all the way to the inside of his elbow. Finally, he let that smile show. 

Roy took a trip to the bathroom so he could wash the ink off his arm for a fresh slate before replying ‘Thanks I nearly forgot’ 

A pause, then, ‘old age will get the best of you’

Roy spent that night thinking. About how he and his soulmate had been talking for years now, but seemed to be on two completely different stages of their lives. About how they hardly knew anything about each other. They got along fine, but the most his soulmate knew about him was that he was in the military and couldn’t say much about it. While he only knew they had a brother and traveled a lot. They had no idea where they lived or what their names were, which was a shockingly stupid thing to skip out on. 

When he finally did get to sleep, he only got a few hours of it. 

The following morning, he woke up to a ‘good morning’ etched across the back of his hand. He’d never gotten a good morning or good anything before and it was really odd that they had decided to start this now. Maybe they were going to put in a real hard effort to talk to him? If that was the case, he’d give just as much effort back. So he replied with ‘good morning’ in return. 

‘How busy are you gonna be at work today?’ 

This writing came later in the morning, just before Roy took off work. He couldn’t answer it quite yet, though, so he waited until he was at work to tell them. It was a solid twenty minutes later that he was finally able to. 

‘As busy as usual’ 

A frowny face is what came next. He could only write out an apology before he got started on all the paperwork he had to do. He periodically checked to see if any new messages had been written. Every once in awhile throughout the morning he’d get a nice little question. Things like ‘how’s working going?’ or ‘how ya doin?’. It was uncharacteristically sweet, but not unwelcomed. It was nice and made his day a bit better. He’d always reply. 

In mid-afternoon, there was a light knock on his door. He was about to tell the person to come in when Ed just burst into the room without waiting for anything. So he was back from Yous Well? With a report. 

Roy couldn’t say he was horribly unhappy to see Ed, but he didn’t like the expression on his face. It was nearly completely unreadable with just a hint of nervousness hiding. It was the same expression Ed wore when he handed in every report. He took the report with a sigh, stopping all he was doing. 

“What did you manage to mess up this time, Fullmetal?” 

Ed was about to reply with something angrily when he caught Roy staring at his metal arm. Roy hadn’t meant to stare, but he’d saw some white markings on the wrist of the metal as Ed’s sleeve hiked up a little. It was writing. Ed quickly pushed the sleeve down again and stepped back. 

Roy was able to look up in time to catch a blush before Ed looked away, lowering his face so no one could see it. 

And Roy was too curious to not ask the question lingering in his mind, “Are you able to talk through that arm?” he paused, “With your soulmate, I mean.” 

He was being nosey and prodding on things that weren’t any of his damn business and he prepared to be told off by Ed. Instead, the kid stiffened a bit and remained silent for a long time. Roy was about to reassure him he didn’t need to tell him when he spoke. 

“No,” Ed replied, turning his eyes back up to meet Roy’s. The gaze was harsh, “I was just testing it.”

It wasn’t a flesh arm, so it seemed like it wouldn’t work, but curiosity got the best of everyone. 

Roy nodded, “Sorry to intrude on your personal life. I was just curious.”

“It’s fine, really,” Ed assured, sending him a very forced smile. 

Roy could only stare at him for a moment. He was quickly snapped back to reality when he remembered he had another meeting set for that day. He looked at the clock. Nearly four. If he hurried, he’d be on time. He pushed himself up from his desk. 

“Sorry for leaving in such a rush, but I’m late for a meeting.” he said as he passed Ed. 

For only a second, he swore he saw a true smile slip onto the kid’s face. He pushed that thought aside. 

But as he left the room, he heard Ed call to him, “Be sure to write it on your forehead next time, colonel!” 


	2. Chapter 2

Ed had spent an unusual amount of time in his office. Not that Roy minded, it was just out of place. Ed would sit on his couch, reading or napping while he worked through the stacks of papers he had to get done. He was alone always, no sign of Al anywhere, and was always respectfully quiet when people came in to talk to Roy. 

Roy had nearly questioned it a few times, but decided against it in the end. His soulmate had gone to asking cute questions every day. They asked about work and about how he was feeling and tried to get to know his favorite things, to which he learned theirs as well. It was always late-night conversations that lead to the favorites. 

He’d learned they favored red over anything and their favorite food was beef stew. They also had a few in-depth conversations about feelings and the whole soulmate thing. Of course they had feelings for each other. They’d been talking for years and the soulmate thing helped the emotions along. But it was still enough to make Roy’s heart race as he wrote out what he felt. 

It was ridiculous how much he felt like a love sick teenager. It almost knocked his pride down, but it also made him horrendously happy during the work day. Others had noticed he was able to deal with a lot more shit than usual. 

These thoughts still flooded his mind as he worked and made it hard to really pay attention. He gave up for a few minutes so his brain could rest and looked up from the papers. Ed was sitting on his couch, feet propped up on a coffee table just across from him with a book in his hands that he seemed to be very intently reading. 

Roy caught himself examining his features. He was really into whatever he was reading, it was clear from the way his brow furrowed in concentration and his mouth curved into a small frown. His eyes scanned the pages quickly before they were turned. Fast reader. He was cute sitting there like that, just spending time in Roy’s office doing everyday things. It felt so domestic, but oddly intimate, like this wasn’t something friends did. He wasn’t sure what hell was going on in his mind. 

He tried to ignore that by going back to work. 

At night, when Roy was finally able to go home, the person on the other end of the Red String got extremely talkative. He was going on and on about a book he read. Roy felt like he’d heard the name before, but couldn’t remember where it was from. As the book talk ceased and the pen ink got scrubbed off, Roy finally wrote something. 

‘We should meet somewhere’

There was a long pause. Then, a ghostly hand wrote in slow, careful letters, ‘Yeah we should’

But after that, their conversation ceased. Roy assumed they had fallen asleep, which was a cute thought, so he was okay with it. He went to bed shortly after and plans were never actually made. Not even as they continued to talk over the next couple days. They continued to say things that Roy oddly recognized, but couldn’t quite place. 

And then came another meeting day. Roy had messily scrawled out the time and that he was going to make sure Hawkeye got the notes from it so she could copy them down, he underlined that one several times since he’d forgotten to do it after the last meeting. He was expecting something from his soulmate, but got nothing. He shrugged it off and continued to work until the meeting time. 

Ed was napping on the couch, but it seemed to be a light nap because when Roy gathered up his papers and stood, it woke the kid up. He felt kinda bad for that, but he really needed to get going. 

Ed sat up and rubbed the sleep from one of his eyes, letting out a long yawn. Just before he could grab the doorknob, Ed spoke.

“Hey, Mustang, don’t forget to give the Lieutenant those notes,” his voice was a sleepy drawl, “It really seemed important.”

Roy nearly shrugged it off with an ‘okay’ as his fingers wrapped around the cold metal knob. But, just as he was about to turn it, he froze. Shock probably covered his face, but no one would know for sure because he kept his eyes completely fixed on the door in front of him. 

He couldn’t bring himself to speak. Ed had been so tired that he’d admitted to  _ knowing  _ they were soulmates in the most subtle way possible. Ed was his soulmate. That, in itself, was a lot to take in. But the fact that Ed knew was more. Why didn’t he just tell him if he knew? He guessed it was because Ed was scared of the consequences of their relationship.

“Thanks,” Roy decided on saying. 

He wouldn’t bring it up. He needed a little bit of time to think about this.

During the meeting, he tried his hardest to pay attention and write down anything that seemed important to remember, but it was a little hard when he knew Ed was sitting in his office, probably feeling incredibly awkward, because he’d just let it slip that he knew they were soulmates and never thought to mention it before. 

That’s what took Roy’s thoughts during the meeting. It was certainly shocking to learn that Ed, of all people, was his soulmate. Was the one he’d been talking to for years now, the one he’d fallen for without even knowing it. It was surprising and incredible and almost unbelievable. 

Of course, their age difference would pose a problem. Ed was fifteen while he was twenty-nine. There was a fourteen-year difference between them and it felt kind of uncomfortable when he thought about it, but he couldn’t deny fate. It was still awkward to think that while he was writing all over his arms as a teenager, it was appearing on an infant. 

The meeting was over quicker than it felt. It felt like he’d been sitting there for hours, but one glance at the clock told him it had only been around forty-five minutes. He gave the notes he’d taken to Hawkeye, then went back to his office.

Ed was still there, but now he was reading a book that had been on the coffee table in front of the couch. Ed had been reading on the book between naps for a while now. Roy went to his desk and took a seat. 

He couldn’t stop himself from turning his eyes to Ed, though. He found himself thinking on how cute Ed was from time to time and he admired a lot of Ed’s strength and traits. If he were going to be honest with himself, he would love to have Ed as his soulmate. 

Ed seemed to notice his staring and turned to meet eyes, “How was your meeting?” 

The kid looked a little uncomfortable to have his gaze on him, but at least he didn’t point out that Roy had been staring. Roy quickly looked down at his papers, pretending to shuffle through them with a purpose. 

“Boring as always.” he replied. 

For the rest of the evening, they sat in silence. Roy pretended like he was working- he really couldn’t work because his mind was still on the fact that Ed was his soulmate- and Ed continued to read. Ed left when it started to get dark. Roy made sure Ed had the time to get far enough away from the building to be out of sight before he, too, left. 

When he got home, he immediately went to washed off the ink that spelled out the meeting time and reminders. He vaguely wondered if Ed was watching his wrist to see the ink smear and eventually disappear. 

With his arm clear and dry, he grabbed a pen. He knew Ed was his soulmate, but he could act like he didn’t. 

‘Meet me tomorrow’ was the statement he wrote down. 

It was kind of demanding and he immediately felt bad about it. He was going to write something nice to add to it when the etchings of messy letters started appearing under his words. 

‘Where?’ 

It was a relief he hadn’t offended Ed. Ed didn’t typically react well to things that sounded like commands. With the confirmation, he started to think about where they should meet up and where they should go. Ed liked to eat, he knew that. So, he’d take him to a restaurant, but they needed to meet somewhere first. 

‘An easy place to find is the Central military headquarters lets meet there’ 

‘Okay what time?’ 

‘Five tomorrow evening we’ll get dinner’

‘Okay’

The words remained for a moment before Roy watched them get washed off by the person on the other end. They were replaced with several more conversations that night. 

 

Roy had gotten to work early that morning. He would’ve taken the day off so he didn’t end up in his uniform when it came time for his date, but he couldn’t. He had to show up early so he could get enough work done to get off early, anyway. Ed would just have to deal with him being in his uniform. 

Around lunchtime, he could hear his door open and close quietly. He didn’t look up from his papers because he didn’t need to. He’d been hearing the door move like that every day for a few weeks now. It was a little surprising, though. He didn’t expect Ed to show up since they had date plans for that night. 

Roy could hear footsteps walk up to his desk. He finally looked up. Ed was standing there in front of his desk, staring at him. The kid had a nervous expression on his face and, as soon as they met eyes, looked away. His cheeks were tinted pink in the cutest way. Roy couldn’t stop the small smile that tugged at his lips. 

“You’re early,” Roy said. 

And the reaction he got from Ed was perfect. Shock spread across the kid’s face and he stared in disbelief. 

“What?” 

“I said you’re early. Our date isn’t until this evening or did you forget that I’d said five?”

Ed remained in a stunned silence for a while. He opened his mouth to speak a couple times, but wound up closing it again. His face had gone completely red. 

“I know what time it was supposed to be, bastard,” Ed finally muttered, looking everywhere but at Roy, “I just thought- I needed to-” 

“It’s alright, Ed. I already knew.”

A silence fell. One that felt like they were trying to silently talk to one another, trying to figure out what they should say or how they should react. They were soulmates. Fate had destined them to be together despite their age difference and despite everything that had gone on in their lives and Roy knew that they already somehow felt like they were in love. How can you not fall in love with someone you knew you were supposed to be with? Especially after how long he and Ed had spoken to each other both professionally and unprofessionally. 

“The offer for the date is still up if you’re still willing to go,” Roy finally said after the long silence, “I know a restaurant we can go to.”

Ed didn’t hesitate before nodding, “I’ll go.” He remained in front of his desk for only a moment before he turned and started for the door, “See you then, Mustang. Don’t be late.”


	3. Chapter 3

By the time five rolled around, the clear, sun-filled skies had turned into dark and heavy clouds. And… it was raining. Of course it was raining, why wouldn’t it be raining? Even so, Roy wasn’t petty enough to cancel such an important date just because of a little rain. So, he finished up what he was doing with his work, changed into the street clothes he’d brought with him- it was a suit and a heavy black long coat -and left for the steps of the building.

It wasn’t just raining. No, it was pouring. Bucketing, even. The kind of rain that meant business and splashed where it landed, rather than be on the ground or on a person. It didn’t discriminate against what it made wet and Roy was soaked by the time he got to the bottom of those steps. Oh well, guess he’d just have to show up as a nice restaurant soaked to the bone.

Looking around, though, Ed was nowhere in sight. He probably just got caught up with something, so Roy would patiently wait. He shoved his hands into his pockets and prepared himself for a little bit of a wait. 

That little bit of a wait turned into a while.

And longer still. 

He was completely soaked, every part of him drenched in water and it was only getting worse by the moment. Checking his watch, it was almost six-thirty. Ed was an hour and a half late. Of course, Roy was curious as to what was keeping him and if he should even wait anymore. Maybe he should go home, dry off, and write out a message to Ed. But that also left him with a little bit of worry that Ed was trying to write a message to him, but the rain kept washing it away. 

He was still staring at his watch when he heard the sploshes of footsteps coming quickly toward him. He looked up. There was Ed, just as drenched in rain as him with a worried expression written all over his face. It brought an honest smile to Roy’s lips.

“And you told  _ me  _ not to be late,” Roy teased as Ed finally got over to him. 

“I- I’m sorry,” Ed sputtered out as he tried to catch his breath, “I didn’t mean to be late, really I didn’t. It’s just, it’s raining and  _ of course  _ Al had to find some sort of animal and he wouldn’t stop arguing about putting it back and-” Ed suddenly froze in his a-fucking-dorable ramblings as if he suddenly noticed something, “You’re soaked.” 

“I don’t know if you’ve realized this yet, but it’s raining,” Roy replied, but the upset gleam in those golden eyes told him it wasn’t something to really joke about right now. Ed must feel horrible for being late, but Roy didn’t really mind. He was just glad Ed showed up at all, “It’s fine, Fullmetal. You’re soaked, too. I’m glad I hadn’t planned a picnic.” 

That earned a very relieved smile from Ed. 

“Do you still want to go out to eat or would you rather come back my apartment? You can dry off and I’ll just make something for dinner,” Roy didn’t think going to restaurant soaked like this would be a good idea, anyway. 

“Yeah, let’s do that,” Ed replied, pausing for a minute before clarifying, “Let’s go to your apartment, I mean.”

Roy’s car was here, he realized far too late. He could have been sitting in it the whole time. He hadn’t remembered it was there because, well, he’d been really focused on this date and wanting it to go well. But, that’s what they took to his apartment. Roy drove them there. 

Once inside, out of the rain and cold, he gave Ed a towel and- per the little alchemist’s request -a shirt to wear until his own clothes were dry again. He apparently intended to stay for a while. That fact showed when Ed was all changed into a button up that was far too big for him and just plopped down onto Roy’s couch, pulling his knees to his chest, covering them with the shirt, and hugging him as he looked around the apartment. He just made himself at home. Roy couldn’t begin to complain. It was adorable. Ed’s beautiful golden locks were out of a braid and just falling down his shoulders and back. Roy found himself oddly wanting to play with it. 

Roy, himself, had changed into a pair of pajama pants with no shirt, just a towel around his neck to catch the water that dripped from his hair. 

“How do you live here?” Ed had questioned as he came out of his room and back into the main room, “You’ve got  _ nothing _ .” 

“I have a couch and a bookshelf,” came his reply, “That’s enough for me.” 

“You need to decorate.”

Roy chose not to respond. He just silently went to the kitchen and started going through his fridge, freezer, and cabinets to see what he had to make. He was almost barren of food as well, but he was sure he could come up with some sort of meal. He decided on noodles. Those were easy and always a pleaser. 

After a little while into cooking, though, Ed seemed to be board because he transferred himself from the couch to the kitchen table where he could watch Roy cook. 

“Watcha makin’, Colonel?” he clearly did not like that Roy didn’t have anything to do in his house other than read books Ed had probably read a thousand times. 

“Spaghetti.” 

What? Spaghetti was easy and delicious and practically the only thing he  _ could  _ make with what was in his house. Don’t you judge him. 

Ed’s response was a simple hum. 

For the remainder of the time Roy was cooking, it was mostly silence with a little bit of small conversation to break that every so often. Then they ate. 

There wasn’t much talking because they didn’t really  _ need  _ to talk. After all, how do you get to know someone you already know everything about? They were soulmates, they’d been talking since they could both write. They knew each other’s secrets and every little in and out of each other.

So the silence that had rested between them wasn’t a harsh one. It was comfortable and made things feel so  _ real.  _ It brought a sensation of them having been together for years. It really felt like they had been. 

Ed ended up staying the night. They slept in the same bed, Ed was nicely tucked against Roy’s chest. He was warm and his rhythmic breathing after he’d fallen asleep could almost lull Roy out, too. It felt nice to have his arms wrapped around Ed. He was a perfect fit, after all. As he fell asleep, Roy could only think about how he honestly couldn’t have imagined a better person to be his soulmate then Ed because honestly? They just worked well together, despite the arguing their headstrong attitudes got them into. 

This was perfect. Everything was  _ perfect _ . 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi! Sorry it took me so long to get to actually writing out a date for the two of them! ╥﹏╥   
> Honestly, I don't know how this story got so popular, but thank you so much for all your support!!   
> So many of you have asked for the date to be written out and I know it's short, but I hope you guys like it! I tried to make it sickening sweet!   
> Thanks again!   
> ♥（ﾉ´∀`）


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